Tag Archives: classic hats

Growing up, I never had much of an interest in fashion. I was more concerned with losing myself in a good book, or getting lost in a world I would create on pieces of paper. As I grew older, I began to appreciate fashion without necessarily developing a taste for it. I would love to watch period pieces at the cineplex, and became immersed in worlds where beautiful women wore luxurious costumes and felt sexy and confident. I began to respect the art of fashion, and what it meant for the world of film, but in my own reality, comfort was key and looking good came second.

When I began attending the fashion shows at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising), my fascination with fashion turned into a love; a love of what it represented, and the stories that each piece told. When my friend Rehn Dudukgian began designing and creating a line of vintage inspired hats, I started to realize that each piece design does contain its own unique story and those stories were worth telling. So, as I documented in Part one of my Hats As Writing Inspiration blog, fashion quickly became an inspiration for my own writing.

That inspiration went a few steps further in early 2010, when I began to craft a screenplay around the hats Rehn created. As Rehn recounted the stories behind each of her hats, she inspired me to take chances with my writing; chances I otherwise would not have taken. As Rehn’s collection, Bijou Van Ness, quickly grew, my script – a love story about a man whose chance encounter with a woman in a green hat (see above) leads to love – quickly took shape.

The script, Le Chapeau (The Hat), began filming on Sunday May 2nd and will conclude on May 16th. In this film, unlike my others, fashion is key, and I am quickly learning how important it can be to representing the personality of each character. If it weren’t for the hat, the man might never have noticed the woman and they wouldn’t have fallen in love. The hats, while giving the film a classic look, also serve as important props, and a crucial plot point. Without the hats, there would be no story. Fashion, I realize, can be essential to telling a specific story.

Once again, hats inspired me to leave my comfort zone and write a story I otherwise wouldn’t have. Inspiration, as I always note, can come from anywhere. It’s up to the writer to seek it out and use it while it’s there.